A Hammer to the Skull
by Rob DS Zeta
Summary: The pessimist complains about the wind. The optimist expects it to change. And the realist adjusts the sails. (SI, ME1)
1. Dreaming with the Wind

**I don't know what to think.**

"**You're lying! That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard!"**

**My mind clings to denial. There's no way…**

"**You're dismissing it so passionately. That's good."**

**He seems so sure of himself, though…**

"**Shut up!"**

**I've had enough. Something has to be done about this.**

"**Are you going to kill me?"**

**The gun's barrel is over his eye. My finger is begging to pull the trigger.**

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Disclaimer: I do not own Mass Effect or any other licensed material.

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_**A Hammer to the Skull**_

_Prologue – Dreaming with the Wind_

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A blowing wind sending rippling waves over a grassy hill… The feeling of a wildflower tickling my nose as it bobs on its stem… The warmth of the sun as it sits over some distant mountains…

I'm dreaming, but it is a good dream.

My eyes open. Light blinds me only for a short instant, after which the rich blue sky and its cotton clouds sharpen into view. Am I cloud watching tonight? Why not stargazing? I've never actually done that before. There are always too many city lights wherever I am. Even when we go camping, there's a city just down the mountain.

The sky doesn't change, telling me that this dream isn't much for my interpretation of how things should be. Glancing around, I see that I'm surrounded by tall grass. Another wave of wind sweeps over us, once again bringing the wildflowers down. One teases the corner of my eye, at which I bring a hand up and rub the irritation away. My hand looks to be very much there, I find. I watch it once my eye stops being scratchy, noting how my fingers move clearly as I bend and flex them.

Is this a dream? It sure does seem real, if you ask me. How could I be out here in anything other than a dream? I was in bed, last I knew. No grassy knolls there to watch clouds from.

Well, dream or not, at least it's a pleasant experience.

I sit and watch clouds for at least five minutes, noting how one particular subject reminds me curiously of Yoshi when, literally out of the blue, something travels across my vision. It's dark and boxy, floating without any sign of wings or propeller. I do hear a faint whine as it goes, though. What in the world is it? A UFO? Okay then. We're back to the dream thing, I guess.

As the object goes out of my viewing range, I quickly move to get myself to my feet. I gotta know what that was. If this is a dream, and that sky is as perfectly normal as I think it is, then there had to have been some reason for that thing to pass over. I gaze up at the flying box, taking passing notice of a rocky ledge up ahead. I watch the box go on and on until, seemingly out of nowhere, it comes into proximity of a giant tower-like structure. The sight of the monolithic architecture instantly spikes my memory, giving me quite the shock. As the box disappears behind the tower, I feel the inclination to run up to the ledge and get a better look.

I wade through the grass as fast as I can, suddenly feeling a sense of urgency. What the hell is up with this dream? That tower looks just like something out of Mass Effect.

Coming up to the ledge, I earn myself a proper look at both the tower and the valley beneath it. The tower is… well… _tall_. I seriously have to stress my neck to get all the way to the top. Not just that, but there are actually two of them. Other one's pretty far off, though. Still, I can see that this one has a set of smaller buildings around it, and surrounding that are rows of crop fields. The bluff I'm on seems to go around the whole sector, with the far end of it being on a separate mountain opposite of me.

Giant towers and farms in the middle of a peaceful paradise? Why am I dreaming about Eden Prime? Why not some place that doesn't get freaking attacked by killer robots? Summer's not gonna last forever. I could seriously do with some downtime in the Mushroom Kingdom or – I dunno – maybe somewhere in Pokémon. _Just as long as it doesn't get attacked by killer robots_.

I sigh, sniff the air, and proceed to do a full three-sixty observation of my surroundings. It's just prairie, trees, and towers in all directions. There's actually another tower that was behind me, so that makes it three. What the hell are they using these things for? I guess people live in them, but, last time I thought too hard about it, there were _not_ that many people on Eden Prime. If there are, then… well… I guess saying that I pity them isn't very useful. This place is going to get annihilated.

_So why am I standing on a very obvious and targetable spot?_ If the attack at the beginning of the first game goes down – and I have no reason to believe it won't – then I want to be safely nestled in the smallest hole I can find. I mean, I guess the thought of going down there and trying to warn everybody comes to mind, but c'mon. They'd have to be absolutely nuts to believe me.

Well, whatever. I'd best be getting off this bluff. I turn around to start walking away…

…but there's a case in my way that wasn't there when I ran up. Okay, dream. You wanna mess with me? I'm game.

My first instinct is to open the case, which is about the size of that old, musty family suitcase we take on big trips. It only takes one look over to find the latches. I undo them, causing the lid to spring open. My mind pauses at the sight of the case's contents. My hair whips as another wave of wind passes over, but I refuse to budge. Offering an honest reaction to this would be a disservice to my pride.

"Really?" I ask no one in particular after a moment of taking in the sight of a chestplate and two notable weapons. What the hell? I don't do guns and armor! Dream! Hey, listen! I don't know what you're insinuating, but I have no plans to- Oh, hey. There's a thing.

Folded and sitting daintily on the cusp of the chestplate is a piece of paper. I hesitantly retrieve it, inwardly dreading whatever might be in it. This is a dream after all. For all I know, I'm going to open this paper and get punched in the face by a caricature of Haruhi Suzamiya.

Then again, that might just wake me up. Come at me, _God_.

The note gets unfolded. Nothing ridiculous happens right away, so I go ahead and give the thing a looking over. It's a message, believe it or not. Somebody's got good handwriting…

_Dear Mr. Kennedy,_

_We're sure you're awfully confused, but have no fear. All that is asked of you is that a file be retrieved from the Collector Base. Everything you'll need is in the case. The omni-tool will be able to hack in and download the file. You just have to get there. In return, we'll send you back to your previous place in time._

_Easier said than done – we know. Chin up, lad. We have the utmost confidence in your abilities._

_Note the supplies that came with this note. We recommend you use it. It's not perfect, but it's better than starting with nothing. Find Shepard. That'll be easier than getting yourself planted into Cerberus, we think. Make sure you check up on how to use and maintain your hardware. Manuals and such are on the omni-tool. Just attach the disk to the back of your hand and the rest should be intuitive._

_Happy hunting and good luck,_

_Artemis_

…

What the fuck?! Artemis?! Cerberus?! _SHEPARD?!_

"Nnnngggggh!" I growl in frustration, falling back onto the ground to try and collect myself. This isn't funny, dream! The Collector Base? Ha! I won't even survive this attack! Hell, even if I could survive this, there's no way in shit that they'd bring me up on the Normandy. I haven't fired a gun in years, and even then they weren't… What the hell are these, anyway?

Sitting back up, I go ahead and pick one of the guns out of the case. It's a shotgun, I guess. Purple, not very elegant, no stock… I guess it's a Katana model. I used one of these in the multiplayer from time to time. Didn't think I'd see one in the first game's timeframe, though. Then again, it probably makes sense to think that my dreams would pull from my more recent memories to help craft a more familiar experience.

Now, if only that experience wasn't guaranteed to _suck ass_.

Placing the gun back, I go ahead and pry out the chestplate. It's kind of a dreary blue-grey color with camouflage green patches in certain spots. I've seen this before, but I can't remember what the brand is. Under where the chest was sits the other parts. Gauntlets, leggings, boots, helmet – all surprisingly compact, believe it or not. Under it, in a small box with a fancy symbol on it, is a small disk that appears to be made out of a very thin layer of some synthetic material. I guess this is the omni-tool. The note said to just put it on the back of my wrist…

It takes a moment, but my hand suddenly finds itself covered in an orange hologram. Huh… This is cool. There are several segments, all of which I dedicate a few minutes of fiddling around with. Once I've figured out how to make it work, I go ahead and put my arm down. The hologram fades away, likely eye-scan activated.

Well… Shit. I don't even know what to do next. Can I wake up now? That'd be preferable to witnessing this colony being slaughtered, not to mention the part where I die as well!

…

Wait… What's that sound?

I look up, thinking that whatever I'm hearing is coming from above. The sun is pretty low now, suggesting that there's probably only about thirty minutes left of sunlight. My memory sparks, noting how the attack occurred late in the day. At the beginning of the mission, as the Normandy descends and drops off Shepard and the team, the sky is pretty dark. When you see the sun, it's nearly below the cliff they're standing on.

…Aw fuck.

Out from a cloud over a spot not too far away from where I stand, the sleek silhouette of a geth dropship emerges.

_Get the armor on. Get the armor on! GET THE FUCKING ARMOR ON!_

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**Well… That took over a year.**

**This is really it. I'm redoing **_**Get**_**, except this time it has a real title. Expect stuff to be the same while still being different. The main character is the same guy, and that other guy is still going to be there. Hopefully I can sell this off a little better, though. More planning is involved, for one, so that should help a lot in the long run.**

**And, just to say, no – I haven't been working on this one chapter for the entire year since I took down Get. I literally started this like five days ago and am just now getting around to posting it.**

**Review if you liked it! Still review if you didn't, but tell me what I did wrong to help me along. Your words fuel my passion!**


	2. The Wind Rises

**Thanks to all the reviewers and followers! Your words are very much appreciated!**

**And sorry this took so long! It was a long week.**

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Disclaimer: See previous chapter.

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_**A Hammer to the Skull**_

_Chapter One – The Wind Rises_

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My fingers fumble over latches and straps as I haphazardly coat myself in the armor. I feel both ridiculous and helpless, knowing that these plates are made for someone brave. Me? I'm only putting them on because I'll certainly die without them.

The world has come alive with noise since the geth ship appeared. Explosions, gunfire, and plasma arcs mix in with screams of terror and death. It all serves to hasten my efforts with the armor. Unfortunately, it also makes my hands shake. I nearly punched myself in the face while I was getting my gauntlets on. My dreams must think I've got nerves of steel or something, because this is some seriously intense shit!

…I say as I lie on my back in the grass with one leg up in the air – arguably doing the least intense thing ever conceived. Dammit! Whoever designed these legging plates should have provided a video on how to put it on. I must look like a fucking nutcase out here! Whatever happened to simple velcro?! Between the jittery hands, my lack of knowledge about this stuff, and the general fact that _there's an army of deathbots invading_, I'm having a hard time focusing on these stupid buckles!

Once my last plate is attached, it's time to get up and apply the finishing touch. The helmet slides right onto my head, and I can't deny that it's actually pretty comfortable. My only complaint is that it doesn't have one of those visors like one in the game might.

_shing_

…Nevermind – that was awesome. If I think for the whole thing to become kickass N7 armor, does it work?

…

Nope. Dammit, dream! Where's your sense of consistency? C'mon!

Anyway, the visor's emerged from its hidey place in the top of the helmet, giving me access to a standard heads-up-display. I've got a motion tracker, highlighted environment, shield readout, and some other stuff I'm not sure about. Hmm… No weapon tracker? Well, actually, I don't have my weapons on yet. Let's rectify that while we've still got the chance.

Pulling up the shotgun, the first thing that happens is an empty space on my HUD suddenly gets taken by a display of the weapon, so I guess that mystery is solved. Content with it, I give the thing another looking over to try and figure out how to make it fold up. After about thirty seconds, all I've managed to find is frustration. Maybe I can just get it to hang there without folding it. With my hand on the grip, I swing the weapon around to where the armor is set to receive – a pair of high-tech braces just under my back. As I do so, the sounds of parts moving and the feeling of weight shifting come to my attention. I freeze for a moment before pulling the weapon back around. Sure enough, I find the device having folded itself into a prism with a gun grip at the end. As I stare, it unfurls back into its proper shape.

Motion-activated… Seriously? Maybe it just detected the braces. That sounds way more realistic.

It takes an explosion off in the distance to jar me back into the present. I've gotta get moving. Putting away the shotgun, I pick out the other weapon that came in the case – a Shuriken machine pistol. What the hell? How am I supposed to hit fucking _geth_ at range with this popgun? I mean, sure. It looks nice and all, but I don't necessarily remember these things being known for their hitting power. Not in Mass Effect 3, at least. They were actually okay in 2. They had to be, though. Half of the game's marketing material – not to mention half of the cutscenes – featured the damn thing. I wonder if I can get armor-piercing or inferno rounds on this one. We'll find out soon enough, I guess.

…Whoa! I'm hearing things again. There's something above us, and it sounds like it's bringing a mechanical hurricane!

I look up, finding the dark sky dancing with lights. Crimson arcs of energy zap downward as the heavens divulge a colossal shape that puts the towers around here to shame. Five massive appendages, glowing red eyes, and an army of geth at its command…

Ladies and gentlemen, meet the Vanguard of the Apocalypse! Leave it to Sovereign to show up fashionably late for the destruction of an entire colony!

"Ffffffffffff-!" I try not to curse aloud as the giant space squid makes its dark descent upon the colony. With seconds, the Shuriken is holstered and I'm making a freaking break for it in the opposite direction. Of course, not five seconds later, my head fills with the sound of _OH MY GOD. WHAT THE FUCK. OW OW OW._

I slam into the ground and start clutching my head! Oh God! It feels like my brain is trying to breakdance!

Through the pain, I manage to flop over and take another look at Sovereign. It's almost all the way down now, but I can't help but notice that one of its tendrils is pointed out from the rest of its body. Suddenly, with a searing red glow, a laser blazes out and flash-fries the area just beneath the ledge I'd been standing on earlier!

The ground shakes, and the pain intensifies! Thoughts of death swirl in my head – images of me being shot by the geth and turned into a husk! It makes me cry out in agony! Why is this happening?! It's just a dream! Why can't I wake up?!

It takes a little while for me to regain my senses. The smell of smoke has filled the air. I force myself to my feet, ignoring the strain in my lower back caused by lying on my shotgun. The air is now filled with debris particles, likely kicked up by the laser attack. The sky has gone blood red, and real life doesn't make that nearly as cool as the game did. My heart sinks, and my head starts to feel overheated. I rip off the helmet, bringing all of the natural sounds of Armageddon to my ears. Of course, it's all the same stuff that had been in the helmet earlier. Death, destruction, lasers, and all that horror, but now I could hear the wind along with it.

As the rising breeze grabs my hair, I face Sovereign. Its standing place behind the closest tower as the setting sun shines on it from behind me makes for a provoking image. It isn't facing me, thankfully, but I can still see its right eye. I glare at it through some ash caught in the air, and all I can feel is a burning sensation in my chest.

"Okay…" I mutter through my teeth. I can't help but simply feel angry at what's happening. All of the death – it's happening! There had been a town in that valley! Now it's just a crater! These flecks of ashes riding the wind – they're all that's left of those people!

This guy wants to destroy colonies? I think this shotgun I'm carrying has a few things to say in rebuttal.

Once I've caught my breath, I put the helmet back on and decide to make for where I can I still hear fighting going on. It's not too far of a run, with the toughest obstacle being a thicket of trees. After only around five minutes, I find myself coming up to another ledge. Below me is a trailing cleft, and…

"Oh my God…"

What I've come upon is like something out of a horror movie. There are corpses – at least a dozen of them. Armors smoking, blood seeping, faces anguished… There are dead geth bodies as well. Blasted apart bits covered in severed cords and white conductive fluid lie all around. The only things moving are a few armored figures, one of which stands out via a set of white plates with pink highlights.

Ashley Williams!

I brace myself, wondering whether or not diving down there is a good idea. I mean… _HOLY SHIT_, there's a lot of dead stuff down there. Who's to say I won't be one of them in the near future? Oh man! I should've thought this through. The images of me dying come around again, at which I have to clench my eyes shut for a second to refocus my mind.

"Hey!"

I shoot back into the moment at the call. I look down, seeing Williams waving up at me. Well, I guess I don't have a choice now.

I slide down the rockface, joining the few remaining soldiers. Looking around, there are four of them – Ashley, another woman, and two guys. As the other woman goes to check on the men, Ash approaches me. She's breathing heavy, obviously still winded from the firefight. Even worse, though, is how her armor has streaks of blood on it. She's not wounded, so…

"You with the 232?" she asks me.

"What?" is my initial witless response. Then it suddenly dawns on me that she's referring to another marine unit. Hers is the 212, and I guess she thinks I'm with the 232 because she doesn't recognize me.

"No. I'm freelance," I move quickly to recompose myself.

"Freelance?" She tilts her head in that telltale confused fashion before raising her hands and waving it off. "Whatever. Are you willing to follow orders? We _really_ can't stay here."

I pass a chilling glance over to the field of gore that surrounds us.

"Uh, yeah. Whatever you say," I respond, turning back to her. Considering that I really don't know what I'm doing, putting my useless butt under Ashley's command is probably the best chance I've got.

"Right," she nods before turning around. "Pick it up, people! Let's get back to the beacon and group up with the 232!"

"B-But…" I hear one guy stutter as the other puts a hand on his shoulder.

"No 'buts', man. You heard the chief. We gotta go."

"Why are we doubling back? We need to get out of here!" the other woman stepped forward, her voice coming off with a noticeable south-Asian accent. Her face is covered by a closed helmet, though, so there's no way for me to tell her race for certain.

"We are _not_ abandoning this colony!" Williams snaps immediately, the tone of her voice comprising a disgust that causes me to stare. Jeezus…

"We barely held out against this batch, but look at what they did!" The woman throws a hand out towards all of their fallen comrades. Looking at them again, I'm inwardly glad that the geth's pulse weaponry doesn't really do much in terms of mutilation.

Ashley takes a firm step towards the woman. "That's enough, Private!"

She opens her mouth to go on, but…

"Wait. What's that sound?"

We all look up to the air just as my ears pick out a sound that gives me goosebumps. Anyone who has played a Mass Effect game knows this…

"Geth!" someone shouts just as several of the flashlight-headed mechas come trudging out from hiding spots around us. A glare at the side of my eye tells me that one is peeking out from behind a tree just to my left. I fully notice it just as my adrenaline starts going, causing me to do what one does with a gun whilst threatened. I point the shotgun I'd almost forgotten I was holding, note the spectacle of the synthetic body down the sights, and pull the trigger. My arms jerk backward in time with the explosive sound of gunfire! There's a spray of white fluid as the geth's shields are punctured and the scattershot bullets tear into its frame!

The body crashes to the ground. It's dead. _I killed it_.

My elation – if there even is any – is cut short, however. Something in the back of my surprisingly fast-acting mind tells me to get out of the line of fire. I dive for the nearest tree, hoping to get behind it before something can get a bead on me. As I get to the far side of the trunk and scramble back to my feet, a burst of pulse rounds whiz by just in front of my visor! The side of the tree splinters, right where my head had been a few seconds before!

"Holy shit!" I yell from shock shortly before realizing that there aren't any geth around for me to blast. Moving pretty much entirely on instinct, I put my shotgun away and go for the machine pistol. It unfolds, at which I lean out to get a look. Ash and the other woman are both laying down heavy fire with their assault rifles, mowing down a geth trooper each. One of the guys is holding the other one, whom seems to have gone still. Fuck!

As I watch this, the area suddenly fills with a whirring sound. I feel like I should know what that sound is…

Then more pulse fire erupts as a pair of geth drones come tearing in from behind the trees up the hill from us!

"Look out!"

As I outstretch the machine pistol and start firing at the raised targets, Ashley gets tackled to the ground by the female private she had been arguing with. I do my best to focus my shots, which come out in sharp single rounds as opposed to the bursts I had been expecting. I don't care, though! I have to lay down fire on these things or somebody else is gonna get hurt!

The drones whizz off in opposite, though one of them gets caught as Ashley's rifle comes up and puts some rounds into it. It instantly loses its momentum, going slack and slamming into the ground like a rock. That just leaves the other one… Hey! Where'd it go?!

I'm answered as the thing swings in right above me. By some miracle, my legs take the initiative and throw my sorry ass out of the way. Not a half-second later, the spot I was occupying turns into a pile of pulse residue. I'm on the ground about five feet away, but I'm okay. Even better, I have time to react! The pistol levels off with the thing, at which my trigger finger starts squeezing rapidly. Round after round goes off, each with a loud report that causes me to grit my teeth. It's not until the drone falls to the grass and explodes that I stop and get a hold of myself.

The world falls silent for a second. All I can hear is my heartbeat, my breathing, and an unwanted ringing. My eyes are clenched shut once again. Then, after one particularly deep breath, everything comes back. I open my eyes, seeing the remains of the drone smoking as the grass around them burn. There are still sounds of battle off in the distance, but, as far as our area's concerned, we're in the clear.

I did it! I don't know how, but I fucking lived!

Jumping back to my feet, I look over to where Ashley and the others were. It only takes about a second for all of the good feelings from having survived to shrivel up and go to waste. I see the Gunnery Chief crouching over the private's body. There are several glowing holes in the fallen woman's chest, signaling her death. Looking over to where the two men were, I find nothing but more bad news. They're floored right next to each other, both still in pools of crimson.

A hollow sigh escapes me as I slowly walk towards the carnage. As much as I might think this is a dream, it doesn't really seem to be taking away from my emotional impact. I can hear myself breathing heavy as my mouth hangs open. It's not until I choke on a sliver of dust and cough that I realize that this isn't over yet – not by a long shot.

Ashley sits over the body for a while more, at which I notice something on her belt. It's a container of thermal clips, if I remember correctly. Do I have one of those? …Nope. Guess this would be a bad to time to ask to borrow one of hers.

After a moment, she finally stands up. "We have to move."

That's all she says, and her tone is so solemn that I can hardly accept it as real. She doesn't even look at me before hoisting her rifle forward and advancing. She's a soldier. She has to keep moving on.

I stay focused on her back as I follow, silently wondering what the Gunnery Chief is thinking. I don't remember Ashley ever getting quite so solemn in the games, but, then again, just because I don't remember it doesn't mean it doesn't happen. Even then, who's to say that Ashley can't get emotional? Dreams might only be fantasies, but a person having sentiments isn't beyond the realm of mortal thinking.

It only takes about a few minutes for us to break out of the trees and into a rocky area that I vaguely recognize as where you actually first see Ashley in the game. Hmm…

"Get down," she suddenly whispers, crouching behind a nearby boulder. I quickly fall in line just behind her. She pokes her head up to get a look, though I can't quite see from where I am. In fact, I didn't even see what we dove back here to avoid.

"What is it?"

"I saw one of them walk between those rocks up there."

I take a chance at turning around so that I can peek around the other side of our cover, allowing me a view of the wide trench we've wound up in. Sure enough, I can see that little fissure where the game makes you think the McGuffin is hiding. Oh, and there goes a geth prancing by. Shit… How are we gonna get through there?

Well, I guess we're not. Ashley's first seen in the game running out of there, so I guess they do a damn good job of repelling her ass.

…Except now it's _our_ asses. Can I wake up now? I really don't feel like getting lambasted by drones.

"What's the plan?"

"I don't know… That's a pretty tight choke point, and we don't know how many are back there."

Hmm…

I turn back around to face her. "You got a motion tracker?"

She looks at me. "Yeah."

"If there's one patrolling, maybe the rest are. I've got one too, so maybe we can get an idea of their numbers if we just get close enough."

"But, if they're not moving, then we're walking into a trap."

Oh yeah… I always forget about ambushes and whatnot. Why can't the enemy play fair?

"Then what do you think?" I sigh, starting to feel frustrated. Why did my dreams drop me here only to get me stuck and possibly killed? This is just ridiculous.

Before Ashley can answer, the air suddenly comes alive with a noise that makes me want to stand up and cheer. We both stare upwards until none other than the _Normandy _comes streaking out of the clouds and lands just off of us. It only stays for about three seconds before getting up and headed for a spot beyond the woods from us. I guess that was them dropping off Nihlus, and they're going to drop Shepard and the rest.

Are we saved? It'd be nice to think we are, but this nagging feeling in the back of my head tells me we're not.

"Looks like we just have to hunker down and wait for reinforcements," Ashley remarks as she takes a deep breath. I guess she's relieved, and I definitely can't blame her. I knew we were going to get some support before too long, but she probably thought that she was about to die.

"Okay…" I shake my head, trying to think of how nice it'll be to see Shepard and Kaidan coming out of the trees in a few minutes.

As we listen to the Normandy take off, a flash of red on my motion tracker steals my attention. Aw hell…

I switch to the shotgun as Ashley stands back up. Turning back around, I look out from the boulder again. As the motion tracker indicates, there's a duo of geth coming up the trench not a full ten feet away from us. It's so close, in fact, that it only takes a split second for the pulse fire to come searing in to bounce off my shields. Holy shit! Too close! _Too close!_

I pass a glance to Ashley to see what she's got in mind. Acting fast, she ducks out and instantly lays down a curtain of fire with her rifle. I look out again, this time seeing the two mechas distracted by the metal flying at them. Instinct grabs ahold of me, making me step out and level off the shotgun again. I fire, ripping off the shields of the closer of the two and forcing it to flinch. Ashley keeps up her fire, eventually mowing the both of them down.

Yay! We win!

"Drones coming over the cliff!"

Too bad we just stirred up the hive!

It's a haze of action as we backpedal away from the onslaught, both of our shield systems lighting up as pulse fire lances around us! Panic takes me as I just randomly shoot my shotgun in their direction, probably not doing near as much as Ashley's focused rifle bursts! No time for thinking – gotta keep shooting! By some miracle, the two drones that actually were coming our way both detonate. The rest of them take off into the woods, probably going to hit our reinforcements.

"That's bad," I point out between labored breaths. Dammit… I didn't think this would take as much out of me as it is.

"We have to-!"

Ashley gets cut off as more pulse fire flies past our heads! What the fuck?! _Why is this still happening?!_

My arm gets grabbed and, next thing I know, we're running back up the trench towards the woods! A quick glance to our six reveals that another pair of drones has come from the fissure. Dammit!

We run as hard as we can as shots fly past and bounce off our shields like crazy! Ashley stumbles, separating the two us, but she doesn't fall. It's not until we're almost all the up that she finally pulls a turning dive and starts blasting them with her pistol. Much to my surprise, they both go down in just a couple of shots. Well damn… That must be one hell of a pistol, because mine takes about five more shots than that.

As I rush over to help her up, I can't help but notice that her eyes have gone wide staring at something towards the other end of the trench. I follow her line of sight just in time to watch a pair of geth jump down into the trench. One of them has what appears to be a colonist in its hands. The pedestal is already there, probably having been set up by the geth we killed earlier. The one just plops the guy down on top of it and…

_SHLUCK_

…My eyes are closed. Not even gonna look at it.

With no more fanfare, Ashley and I scurry off for the nearest rocky cover. The instant we're out of the geth's line of sight, my innards decide to do a barrel roll. Aw shit!

"Seriously?" I hear Williams groan as I paint a spot of grass with some food I didn't even know I'd eaten.

"You can take it out of my tip," I cough once I'm finished, making sure to throw a nice spit into the end of it. Ugh – what a day this is turning out to be!

Ashley readies her rifle again, and I can't help but look down at my shotgun. There's something pouring out of it, though I can't tell if its smoke or steam. It needs a new thermal clip, I guess. I think to ask for one, but then I look up. The sky is filled with smoke, the sky is about as ominously red as it can get, and there are explosions going off in the distance.

And yet, for some reason, there's a nice breeze blowing through. I take a deep breath, wishing that I had the chance to take off the helmet and really enjoy it. The leaves in the trees are swaying, making just enough noise to be heard over the sounds of war.

Nature doesn't stop… and neither will we. This colony's gonna get saved.

"Loan me some clips."

Ashley grabs one off her belt and gives two to me, going ahead and tossing one into her rifle while she's at it.

"What's the plan?" I ask as push one clip into the Katana and pump it. The old flies out and lights some grass on fire.

"Nothing fancy," she claims as she peeks out and pulls in just before a swathe of pulse rounds fly by. "I'll lay down some covering fire, and you dive out and hit them with that popgun of yours. Just don't get your ass shot."

I swap for the Shuriken and swap its clips as well. Don't ask how I'm doing this. When you're there with the gun, it's actually kind of intuitive.

"On your mark, then," I sigh, holding the machine pistol in a ready position.

"On three," she whispers. The geth are showing up on the edges of the motion tracker now. She counts with her fingers.

One…

Two…

"Alenko, move in!"

Huh?!

* * *

**Last bit of the chapter's a little rushed, but I don't think it would have been any better if I'd given it more time. This chapter was trying to take forever to get out, and I wasn't going to give any more days.**

**And so we've survived our first firefights! Woo-hoo!**

**Thanks for reading! Review if you feel liked it! Your words are like the pellets I feed the hamster that comes up with this crazy stuff!**


	3. Better Wrapped in Beacon

**Finally pried my grubby mitts off of my never-ending pile of backlogged video games (and GTA V)** **long enough to get this thing done…**

**Thank you again to all reviewers and followers!**

**Oh, and if anyone's tired of the constant references to wind, don't worry. It's only going to be a vaguely recurring motif. Thus, the name of this chapter is a Gears of War reference. Let's continue!**

* * *

_**A Hammer to the Skull**_

_Chapter 2 – Better Wrapped in Beacon_

* * *

Ashley and I both send our surprised attentions to the edge of the woods. There, coming out from the trees, are two figures in black. One of them, a man, becomes enveloped in a blue aura – signifying biotic talent. He raises his hand, and from it fires an orb that sails over us and snatches a geth straight off its feet.

This cues the other figure, a woman with a sniper rifle slung over her shoulder, to take a knee. Not half a second later, the geth that hadn't been lifted loses its flashlight head. Ashley takes this moment to go ahead and duck out of cover, opening fire on the airborne platform. The biotic man fires on it with his pistol as well, effectively perforating the geth and ending our engagement.

Whew… I need a drink.

"Anyone wounded?" a very distinct and somewhat familiar voice calls down to us as the two new arrivals ease down the hill towards us.

Ashley and I glance between each other, probably checking the other for any injuries.

"Just some scrapes and burns." The chief turns back before leaning back onto the rock and taking a deep breath. I'm surprised she's still standing, honestly. I'm ready to sit down and call it a day, and I've only been in the battle for about five minutes. She's been fighting these things since they landed.

"Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams of the 212," Ashley goes ahead and introduces herself once the duo of main protagonist Commander Shepard and lancer Kaidan Alenko have made it up to us. The noncommissioned officer makes sure to stand up straight for this, showing off her military upbringing in spite of what's happening. "We were patrolling the perimeter when-"

"Save it for the debriefing, Williams," Shepard suddenly puts up an interrupting hand. Huh… Guess she's not much for formality. "What are we fighting here?"

"I think they're geth." Ashley doesn't mince words.

"Geth?" Shepard passes a quick look to Kaidan, who makes an expression that I assume is supposed to mean something between the two of them. "What about the Prothean beacon that was supposed to have been dug up? Where is it?"

"It should be just at the end of this trench," Ashley claims, turning and pointing towards that choke point we'd been trying to watch troopers through earlier. "I heard they were planning to move it, though. I haven't been through personally to see whether or not it's still there."

Shepard and Kaidan exchange looks again. Hmm… They've definitely got a synergy thing going on. Before I can think too much on it, though, the commander looks at me. I find myself nearly frozen with nerves under her gaze. She's got eyes that look like they've seen a lot of shit in their day – the kind of eyes that could probably spot a line of bullshit from a kilometer away.

"What about you?" she asks me. It takes me a second to process what she means.

"Raz Kennedy," I give my name, such that it is. "I'm freelance. Decided to help out the marines when the shit started falling."

Not my most eloquent sentence, but I think it got the point across.

It takes significant effort for me to not to take a cautious step back as Shepard and Kaidan both give me this look like 'Are you serious?' I get it, guys! I'm not supposed to be here. No need to make me feel like a crazy asshole.

"Alright then," the commander says after a few seconds of contemplation. "Our orders are to secure that beacon. If you two are able, we sure could use your help."

This time it's back to me and Ashley to swap the glances again. I nod. She turns back.

"Aye, aye, ma'am. It's time for payback," she says that line meaningfully, at which I can't help but think of all the bodies we left behind in the forest – all of those colonists that got vaporized as Sovereign was landing.

"I'm coming too," I try my hardest to grin with some amount of confidence. Internally, I really _don't_ want to go with them. However, staying here by myself will probably only result in me dying. Even in a dream, that's a fate I'd like to avoid.

"It's decided then," Shepard gives a firm affirmation before hoisting up her sniper rifle and stepping out. She looks down the rifle's scope, looking down the trench. "Hmm… There's probably an ambush waiting in that hole up ahead."

"That's where the geth that we killed earlier came from," I note, following Shepard's gaze to the choke point. It's kind of strange, actually. That choke wasn't so tight in the game… or, at least, I don't think it was. Been a while since I played ME1.

"Only one way to find out if they're still there or not," Ashley remarks, turning to the area in question and raising her rifle as well.

"Let's move," Shepard gestures forward. "Alenko, take point."

"Aye, aye," Kaidan acknowledges and proceeds. I go second on impulse, mainly because I've got my shotgun out. Shotguns don't do very well when there's a squad of people in front of you. The fire tends to, y'know, _spread_.

Kaidan goes between the large rocks that dot the floor of the trench, his gun pointed at the choke point the entire way. I keep one spot of cover behind him the entire way, making sure that my gun is pointed anywhere but at him. The last thing I need is to accidentally shoot him in the back. The whole process of moving up takes about two minutes, with us all stopping in cover and waiting for Kaidan to move up.

Having been told that, take into account that, had we just walked the distance, it would have taken about thirty seconds. Not that I'm about to complain. If playing shooters has taught me anything, it's that the first rule of war is as follows: **Take cover or die.**

Once we've all reached the choke point, Kaidan holes up on one side while the rest of us line up on the other. With the commander's signal, Kaidan sticks his head in and steals a look. He pulls it out about a quarter-second later, pulse fire hot on its metaphorical heels. He quickly holds up four fingers, which I assume means that there are four geth on the other side.

"Move in," Shepard gives the go-ahead. Oh boy…

Kaidan, being on point, takes the lead. He immediately shrouds himself in a biotic barrier and charges straight in. Wow! So much for caution! Just as he's clear of the entrance to the choke point, Ashley pushes me in. My feet move against my better judgment, and I soon myself passing into a new firefight.

Kaidan starts the engagement with a biotic attack in the direction of two geth that just happen to be standing near one another. The attack sends one flying into the other, putting them out of commission long enough for me to think up what I should do.

Coming into the hole where the McGuffin beacon once was, I see that the quarters are relatively tight. My shotgun might go to good effect here. Once Kaidan is out of my way, I get my eyes on the nearest standing geth, aim the gun, and pull a sideways Max Payne dive while firing. I hit the ground solidly on my hip, bringing about that feeling of instant regret. The geth I aimed at staggers, its shields stripped. Still on the ground, I fire again, this time sending a full load of searing buckshot straight into it! By this time, Shepard and Ashley have swept in to join. Ten seconds later, all synthetics are down.

"Whew…" I get myself a fresh breath of oxygen as I turn off my now sore hip. Looks like I survived again. Ashley is the first to walk over and offer a hand up, which I take in stride.

"What do you call that maneuver?" she asks, likely referencing my attempt at being awesome just a moment ago. I can't tell if she's joking or criticizing me, to be honest.

"I call it 'not dying'," I say the first thing that comes to mind. She grimaces and grunts, which I promptly ignore. I think Shepard and Alenko have just noticed that their plot device is AWOL.

Sure enough, the two original members of the Normandy's ground team are standing around an ancient-looking pedestal that looks to have been recently unearthed. Ashley approaches the site to join them in their despair of not having completed their mission. I, meanwhile, stand back and try not to act utterly unmoved by the upcoming revelation.

"The beacon's not here." Shepard points out the blatantly obvious. I suppress the urge to call her out on it. "Any ideas Williams?"

"No way to be certain," Ashley shakes her head. "All the details about what went on down here were above my pay grade. That's why it was down here in the hole. My guess is that they moved it for pickup."

"But who moved it? Our side or the geth?" Alenko throws in his two cents.

I decline to comment, leaving the important speculation to those getting paid for this.

"Hard to say. Maybe somebody up at the research camp will know."

…_If _there's anyone left alive up there. I mean, I know that there are indeed people alive up there, but they don't. I guess they're just being blindly optimistic in the face of great tragedy – kinda like how I'm being optimistic that this crazy dream is gonna end soon.

…

Nope. Didn't work. Dammit!

"We make for the camp, then," Shepard dictates, at which we all get back on guard and start moving again. Kaidan stays on point, and I follow with heavy apprehension in my chest. I've just remembered something horrible…

_Husks_.

We head up the slope that takes us out of the hole, with Kaidan stopping to make sure it's clear for us before we fully exit. As we're stopped, a black and red gauntlet slides a cylinder into my view. I look, finding it to be a thermal clip container like the one I saw on Ashley's belt. I take it with a nod, acknowledging the fact that a spoken "thank you" to Shepard at this point in time probably wouldn't gel too well with the soldiers.

Once I've got my cylinder put on a belt slot, we've finally moved up onto the hill where the research camp is. Unfortunately for our hopes, it appears to have been the sight of a fierce battle. One of the buildings has been completely demolished, and there are a grand total of _five_ husks up on spikes.

Husks… It's amazing that they've already been formed. We've only been under attack for a grand total of half an hour, but these things look like full-on mecha-zombies. Ashy skin, black bits of tech blotching out from wherever possible… It's absolutely the worst thing I've ever seen.

Before I can throw up again, the things start moving.

"Oh God!" Kaidan exclaims as the spikes lower themselves. Slithering like ashen snakes with legs, the newly formed monsters take to their feet. We all just stare as the closest husk notices us with its bright blue eyes. It doesn't hesitate to start hobbling our way, eventually stumbling into a run across the blood-stained grass.

I don't even know what to think as the creatures start clambering at us in a macabre parade of groaning mutation. Guns are forward, but nobody shoots. Not until one gets close enough to Kaidan that it's almost too late. He pulls the trigger on his pistol, blasting the husk's head clean off. This sparks the rest of us to open fire as well. I gun down the husk nearest to me, effectively plowing it into the ground with several shards of buckshot. Seconds later, after a flash of gunfire, it's over. All I can hear for a brief moment is my heavy breathing, until…

"What the hell?!" Ashley fumes, stomping up to one of the Dragon's Teeth platform and kicking over. "This is what they put that guy on back in the trench! They're turning our own dead against us!"

The marines share some words on the subject, but I go ahead and take a walk to distance myself from the spikes and their freshly perforated creations. It takes effort not to step on a husk's corpse, at which I can't help but notice how they almost don't look human anymore. It's just a horrid perversion of the human body, now filled Reaper tech.

I make my way past the research camp's pre-fab buildings, coming into another lightly wooded area on a hill. The area is rather quiet, believe it or not, and my motion tracker isn't showing anything close by. I go ahead and take another deep breath.

Damn… I feel horrible. When I get out of here, I'm gonna have to hit the yoga mat.

A yellow dot on my motion tracker comes up from behind as I stare aimlessly into the trees.

"See anything?" Kaidan asks once he's up to me.

"Just the woods for now. The space port shouldn't be too far up from here." I note, doing my best to remember the proper chronology of events and set-pieces for the Eden Prime mission in the game. Unfortunately, reality and hellish occurrences are obfuscating my memory.

The two of us stand aft of the camp for a good fifteen seconds before I notice that the women are failing to be present. Looking back, I pick up talking going on somewhere back there. Shepard and Ashley must have found the doctor and her assistant in one of those shacks. Good for them. Right now, though, I prefer the quiet over the ravings of a nutcase who may or may not actually be foreshadowing the entire expanded plot of the trilogy.

"So… Freelance, huh?"

I look to Kaidan. Small talk? Seriously?

"Uh… Yep." I reply, keeping my gaze planted firmly amongst the trees.

"You do military contracts?"

"…No," I struggle to figure what the correct answer might be. "Not if I can help it."

"Why're you on an Alliance colony then?"

"Vacationing." I'm quick to dismiss that I'm here for any official reason.

"With all of your gear?"

"Always be prepared."

"…" he grunts something I can't understand, giving me the impression that I am formally under suspicion of a Systems Alliance staff lieutenant. Where did my life go so wrong?

Luckily, before the moment can get any more awkward, Shepard and Ashley emerge from the camp and we press on. Within minutes, we're on the hill overlooking the space port cargo platform. Of course, that's not the main attraction of this moment. Towering over the platform while also being several kilos off is none other than Sovereign, whom takes this opportunity to make like a tree and get out of here before we can get a proper look at it. We don't exactly have the time to gawk at it like in the game, what with the geth crawling all over the place _and_ with numerous husks sitting tall on their spikes.

"Focus, everyone! Let's move quick," Shepard instructs as she readies her sniper rifle. "Williams, get on that boulder. Get ready for suppressing fire. Kennedy, cover her. Alenko, get a barrier up for me so I can shoot straight."

Not a full two seconds after she finishes, her rifle goes off and ignites a canister sitting between two geth. Ashley and I are at the aforementioned boulder not long after, just after Kaidan's thrown up a biotic bubble around the commander and her firing position. The chief doesn't hesitate to start throwing bursts of metal against the closest geth's shields, leaving me out of range with my shotgun. My hand teases the machine pistol but then I notice the husks touching down from their perches. I keep the shotgun out, opting to slow them down while the others put down the machines.

I take a potshot at the nearest husk, causing it to stumble as two more rush past it. My next shot slams one trying to move for my side of the cover. Its arm fragments as rounds sear through flesh and shatter bones. That's one down for me, and Ashley picks up the spare with the one I'd tripped up earlier.

The last of the geth receives a hole to the neck via Shepard, just leaving three more husks charging up the hill at us. Kaidan goes ahead and pulls in his barrier bubble, launching the reigned energy into the nearest husk. The creature goes flying back like it was hit by a cannon, landing in some flaming wreckage at the bottom of the hill. The next husk loses its head, once again the work of Shepard and her rifle. Ashley is quick to mow down the last one, and that's that.

"Bag 'em and tag 'em." Ashley breathes as she comes out of cover.

We don't lollygag getting down the hill. I briefly pass a glance over to a shed next to the cargo platform, remembering a small side quest being activated out of it. Here we are, though, standing in the middle of a warzone. I'm sorry, but dragging out and cross-examining some distressed farmers doesn't seem like the most intelligent idea.

Once on the platform, the commander and Kaidan make a beeline for a certain black-clad alien with a hole in its head. Alas, poor Nihlus! I knew him not at all, Horatio.

"A turian?" Ashley is no doubt all kinds of confused.

"He was with us on the Normandy. Looks like they caught him by surprise, Commander." Kaidan tells us as I get a better look at the deceased. Literally sharp features, black exoskeleton with white markings, and a pool of blue blood leaking out of its forehead – so _this_ is what a turian looks like in real life.

"That's not very becoming of a Spectre." Shepard notes on the subject, making a very good point.

Well, this conversation isn't getting us anywhere. Cue a loud noise that puts us all on edge!

_SLAM!_

A crate just fell over, promptly causing everyone holding a gun to point it in the offending sound's direction. I'm not excluded from this.

"D-Don't shoot! I'm one of you – I'm human!" comes the voice of somebody who's clearly had a rough day and is in need of a change of pants. Out from behind where the crate spilled over is none other than a man with a thin beard and a brimless hat.

"What were you doing snooping around back there?"

"I was hiding from those… _things_," the man explains as he props himself up on a crate that's sitting between him and us. "My name's Powell. I saw what happened to your turian friend. The other one shot him."

Glances are shared between the marines, likely inferring more confusion.

"You're saying he was shot by another turian?" I go ahead and keep the conversation ball rolling.

"Yes!" Powell declares, looking as if he's doing his best to remember the fine details. "The other one was here waiting, and then yours showed up. They acted like they knew each other. I think… I think yours called the other one 'Saren'."

"Saren?" Shepard sounds taken slightly aback. Huh? Does she actually know the name? "How did he kill Nihlus?"

"Your friend? Well, he seemed to trust Saren, so he went looking ahead a little…" Powell looks down here, obviously distraught at the mere memory of it. "And Saren killed him. Pistol shot. Right through the back of the head."

We all take this moment to look at Nihlus's corpse again. Yep, I'd say that story looks about as plausible as anything else. If he'd been shot by a geth, there'd be more holes in him. If it'd been a sniper, then I think there'd be a bigger hole in the head… if there was even a head left, that is.

"What about the beacon they dug up? We were told it was moved here. Do you know anything about that?"

"It's over on the other platform. That's where that guy Saren seemed to be headed. He hopped on the cargo train right after he killed your friend."

And now we have to go after him… Fun.

"We need to get there. Is there another line for the train?"

"Of course. You can take it straight to the other platform," Powell nods before backing away. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I need a vacation."

With that, the uselessly traumatized dockworker runs off. Nobody tries to stop him.

"Let's keep moving, people. We can't let this Saren guy get away with the beacon."

"Aye, aye, ma'am."

Okay… Time to move up again.

"We've got geth!"

Shit!

_One meticulous firefight later…_

"Pffft!" I try to get the taste of geth fluid out of my mouth. Some spittle laced with murky white sprays to the floor of the now moving cargo train.

Before you ask, let me just say that you can safely assume it to be everywhere except my eyes and nose.

"You don't think this stuff's toxic, do ya?" I ask to anyone in particular.

"You'll be the first to know," Shepard quips, much to my annoyance. She's up at the train's controls, piloting us on our merry way.

"So what do you think that thing we saw taking off was?" Kaidan asks, drawing us back to when we saw Sovereign returning from whence it came.

"It showed up right after the geth started pouring down on top of us," Ashley recalls the same as I do. "I was getting a message out to request aid, and there it was. Looked like a damn mountain coming out of the sky."

We all sit quietly on that comment, either contemplating explanations for that ship or trying to remove the haunting image of it from our brains. The latter of those is for me. The sight of that Reaper coming out of the sky and just flatout _decimating_ that settlement in the valley keeps flashing in my mind. Why? Dammit! I don't want to remember that!

"How long until you think the Alliance response and aid teams get here?" Kaidan changes the subject after a few moments.

"Not for another hour, I'd wager." Shepard doesn't look up from the train controls, though I can't help but pick up some cynicism in her tone.

We go quiet again, the mood all too sour to be lightened. In the end, it doesn't matter. We arrive at the second platform less than a minute later.

Before the train's even stopped, Kaidan's already got a barrier going and is soaking up pulse fire as it streams in from an overbearing ledge. We jump off the train immediately, with Shepard and Ashley both firing back as hard as they can with their assault rifles. All I can do is use my machine pistol and pray I hit something – too far away for the shotgun.

We eventually get hunkered down behind some crates, at which I can't help but notice that my shield indicator is nearly depleted. Damn! Glad I made it down in time!

"Agh!"

Ashley slams down into cover, blood trailing out of a seared wound on her arm.

"She's hit!" I yell because it apparently wasn't obvious enough.

"Shit!" Shepard is on her immediately. She gets eyes on the wound and immediately shoves her assault into my chest. "I got this! Give us cover!"

Aw hell!

For some reason, I don't actually protest. Instead I quickly turn around with the rifle in my hands and prop my elbows up on a crate. My shields ping back to life just in time. There are geth still firing down at us from the raised part of the platform. Their pulse shots glance off my shields as I pull the rifle's trigger and send a hail of lead their way. To my left is Kaidan, using his biotics to snatch one machine off its feet. It's out of the game for now, allowing us to focus on the rest. I keep shooting, not really caring whether or not I hit anything. I just need to buy Shepard time so that she can fix Ashley!

Eventually, likely via some miraculous influence, one of the geth falls to my shooting. Another goes down thanks to Kaidan's pistol, and the one he levitated falls flat to the floor like a box of bricks. We don't take a chance, filling it with slugs before it can so much as try to get up.

"I think that'll do it." Shepard speaks up at the end of what was really a five-second fighting sequence. I pull back and turn to see what she means, finding Ashley with a still bloody but no longer bleeding arm.

"Thanks, Commander," Ashley nods after taking a deep breath. I take this opportunity to hand Shepard her rifle back.

"It looks like the geth aren't pressing the attack," Shepard keeps the mission ball rolling just as I start to take a deep breath of my own – freaking hell! We all look to find the commander pointing at a particularly round something sitting in the corner of the alcove we've nestled into. "Alenko! We've got demolition charges!"

"I'm on it!" the Sentinel-class doesn't hesitate. He's jumps straight into disarming the thing, bringing up his omni-tool and typing away. Before I can even wonder how long we have until that bomb goes off, more pulse fire comes streaming in. Dammit! How many of these things are there?!

We suppress the geth as best we can, allowing Kaidan the ten or so seconds he needs to disarm the bomb. Unfortunately, that means it's time to move to the other side of the platform to reach the others. We move one at a time, the moving person still shooting as they go. Thankfully, the geth attack is so staggered that they don't necessarily outnumber us – a fact that's probably saved our lives. Between Kaidan's tech/biotic skills and the assault rifles that Shepard and Ashley are packing, we manage to keep alive as we make a break for it across the catwalk.

Of course, that doesn't mean there aren't any close calls…

"Look out!" someone yells as I'm sprinting across the catwalk. The sound I hear next is familiar, instilling fear. It's the sound of one of those heavy carnage blasts! I have just enough time to look over, see the red ball of death coming at me, and then make the astonishing move of falling back and sliding under it on my knees. It passes over me so precisely that my face feels the heat from its plasma trail.

"_God damn!_" I react as anyone who was almost evaporated might.

Once I've righted myself, I waste no time getting over to where Ashley and Kaidan are waiting. It's here that I have to brace myself against a wall and try to summon a second wind… or maybe a third wind.

"Did everyone see that?" I ask between gasps for precious air. "Because I'm not doing it again."

Nobody dignifies me with a response. Thankfully, the commander joins us seconds later, her rifle overheating just as she slides in next to me. The nearly consistent stream of pulse fire seems to have fucked off in the meantime. Did we get all of them?

"Alenko. There's another bomb on the other side of this pylon." Shepard jerks a thumb over her shoulder, prompting the most technically inclined teammate to jump to work. "What's it look like out there, Williams?"

Ash leans out just far enough to get a decent view. "I want to say it's all clear…"

"But…" Shepard interposes.

"…but my gut tells me it's not."

We sit silently for a moment until Kaidan comes back around.

"Kennedy." Shepard pokes me.

"Hm?"

"You just got volunteered for recon."

"_Fuck_."

"Move up to those crates," Shepard points as we keep low and peek out for ourselves. "Keep an eye on your motion scanner."

"Uh… Okay."

"Okay?" she parrots me with an offended tone. Oh shit!

"I mean, uh… Aye, aye."

"Damn straight. Now get moving."

With that, she grams my arm and literally throws me out of cover. I scramble to recover, breaking into my best roadie run towards the crates. I slide in, trying to imitate how Shepard arrived earlier for no other reason than it looked cool.

Once I'm there, I see why Shepard told me to check my motion tracker. Mine's just shit itself. Thoughts rush through my head, trying to remember what this could mean. Then it hits me. There's a sniper, and I'm the mothertrucking bait to lure it out.

Well, I ain't getting my head shot off just because one of my favorite video game protagonists asked me to.

I work quickly, undoing all the connections and slowly removing my helmet. I hold it softly, making sure not to actually grip it in any way. Then I raise it up to where somebody looking from the other side of the crate could see it. I make sure that it's facing away from where the shooter would be so they can't see the lack of delicious brains inside. Let's hope the geth sniper doesn't believe in heat sensors.

The seconds tick by, making me so nervous that I can actually feel my heartbeat. Then the shot goes off.

_POW!_

The helmet explodes off of my fingertips, flipping and bouncing into oblivion. Nevermind that, though. Shepard's already up with her own sniper and, with a crack, takes a shot of her own. It's all over in only about a second. Damn. I think I'm gonna have a heart attack before this is all over. It's like watching a Formula One race at the Nürburgring – every few minutes you think someone's gonna die and then they don't, but your heart nearly crawls out of your chest anyway.

The marines emerge from cover, telling me that Shepard's shot was successful. I'm slow to stand up, slightly disoriented from the sudden mounting of my nerves. Still, it's all quiet as the soldiers make their way up to me. Kaidan bounds onto another demolition charge as Ashley takes a moment to help me all the way up.

"Not bad, but I think your helmet got wrecked."

"Better it than my skull." I grumble as I try to shake it all off.

"Found the last charge!"

Kaidan finishes up his work here and rushes over to where Shepard is at the end of the platform. Ashley and I follow, arriving just in time for him to complete the process.

"I think that's all of them." the biotic notes as we all get our breath back for the time being.

"How much time was left?" I can't help but ask.

"Three-point-four," he answers with a straight face.

"Minutes?" I remember the ridiculously forgiving timer they were on in the game.

"Seconds."

…There's a frown on my face.

"Team!" Shepard interrupts our chatter, calling us over to another part of the platform. This is where the beacon ought to be, actually. Sure enough, there it is – vaguely fifteen feet tall, kinda glowing green, and able to forewarn us of our impending doom. I recall there being another firefight in this part, but there doesn't seem to be any geth or husks around. Not that I'm gonna complain. The sooner I'm done killing shit, the sooner this nightmare's over.

Wait. Why's everyone staring at the beacon? Is it-?

…

Oh. There's where that town was. It's just a scorched crater now.

"Good God…" Ashley releases, becoming the first to step forward to get a better look at the ruined land. We all follow close behind. I guess that this is probably most important to her, given how she was stationed here and all.

We stand and stare for a good thirty seconds, after which Shepard and Kaidan decide to go over and finally "secure" the beacon. I stay by Ashley, figuring that I have more business making sure she doesn't pitch herself into the valley than I do bugging the others.

"All those people…" she whispers. "They're just _gone_."

I want to say something, but refrain. It's not my place. Ashley's a soldier. She's tough enough to get through this on her own.

I turn around once Shepard starts calling the Normandy down, knowing that this would be the time for a certain important moment to occur. As the plot demands, Kaidan is being a little too curious with the beacon. Then, in the blink of an eye, the machine flashes to life. Kaidan juts back, but it's already got him. Thankfully, even without Ashley over there talking to her, Shepard notices the bizarre phenomenon trying to eat her lieutenant and leaps into action. She nabs the man and hauls him out of the way, throwing him in my direction just as she begins to feel the pull herself.

By the time Kaidan's righted himself, it's too late. Shepard's feet leave the ground, and I can only imagine what horrors that thing is showing her.

"Shepard!" Kaidan tries to make a go at her, but Ashley grabs and holds him back. My eyes never leave the commander though. She floats there for what feels like an eternity, and then is thrown back as the device detonates. She smashes into the ground before skidding to a halt in a motionless heap. Kaidan breaks free of Ashley and immediately rushes to the side of his downed CO, going so far as to call the Normandy and tell them to get a medical team ready.

That's it. The tutorial level is over.

I turn around and prop myself up on the railing overlooking the devastated valley. My eyes close, my head bows, and the deepest sigh I've ever pushed in my entire life escapes me.

All of those dead people…

Can I wake up now? Please?

* * *

**And we're back! Holy crap that was a pain to get done! I'm pretty sure the end needed some more emotion, and no doubt I failed to deliver. Hopefully someone out there will forgive me. I NEEDED to get this done, even if it meant writing whatever came to mind and rushing it a little.**

**Hopefully that'll be it for almost-whole-month pauses in production. I'd actually had this thing half-written two weeks ago, but Grand Theft Auto V came out and I had to play the f*cking hell out of it. Then I remembered I had an unfinished file in Mass Effect 2, and then Jet Set Radio, and then God of War HD. Then I read some of Full-Paragon's _And the Meek Shall Inherit the__ Galaxy_****(which you should go read right this instant), which finally got me sitting still long enough to finish this chapter.**

**WHICH IS GOOD. Now that we're off Eden Prime, we get to meet some more characters and see the rest of the galaxy! Next chapter's gonna have Keith David and Carolyn Seymour in it! MY EXCITEMENT IS PALPABLE.**

**Thanks for reading! Leave a review if you feel so inclined! Or don't! You have free will and should exercise it! YAY!**


	4. It's Rude to Exclude

**NOTE: Part of this chapter is a chat room log, not dissimilar from certain parts of a certain extremely popular webcomic. While I'm sure somebody reading this knows that entries based in chatspeak are against the FanFictiondotnet terms of service, I believe that the short AND contextually relevant part of this chapter (and probably parts of upcoming chapters) that are based in chatspeak are minor in the scheme of the story and are not grounds for termination.**

**Besides, it also says that lists are against the rules, but I've seen those all over the place.**

**All of that said, this chapter's gonna be a little different. The visceral part with the destroyed colony is done. Now we get to see our protagonist stuck in a confined space whilst bored out of his skull. If that's not a recipe for the inexplicable, I don't know what is.**

**Let's continue…**

* * *

_**A Hammer to the Skull**_

_Chapter 3 – It's Rude to Exclude_

* * *

We're tired, sweaty, still in our armor, and I personally feel like collapsing. Anderson doesn't give a shit, though.

"I suppose we should start with introductions," the very serious and very large man says impatiently as he paces in front of his desk. Ashley, Kaidan, and I are all lined up in front of him so that we can deliver some kind of explanation as to why the Normandy's shakedown cruise turned into an unmitigated catastrophe.

He points to Ashley. "You first."

"Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams of the 212."

"And you?" He looks to me.

"Robert Kennedy. I'm a freelancer." I give him the same line I gave the rest, albeit with my real name instead of what everybody calls me. 'Raz' is a nickname to distinguish me from the still-breathing grandfather I was named after.

"Freelancer?" he says with confusion before turning to Kaidan. "Fill me in Alenko."

Kaidan wastes no time in telling our epic tale of survival on the geth-infested colony. He also reminds me about Jenkins, instantly making me feel bad. The spare clip cylinder that Shepard gave me comes to mind. Could it have been his?

Anyway…

"Did you just say 'Saren'?"

No points for guessing how far Kaidan got with the story.

"That's what the dock worker told us, Captain." Kaidan affirms.

"And you two confirm this?" Anderson glares between me and Ashley. We nod, and the responsive look on his face can only been described as _absolutely livid_.

"Does that name mean something, sir?" the lieutenant inquires as Anderson resumes pacing, shaking his head, breathing a sigh, rubbing his chin – he's nervous as hell. I don't blame him. If his day wasn't bad enough, then dropping that shiny turian turd into the mix must have turned this into the shittiest of all shitstorms.

"The only Saren I know is a Spectre," Anderson informs us after a moment of contemplation. "One of the best, in fact. You think he's working with the geth?"

"We have no reason to believe he isn't. The area was crawling with the bastards and we didn't find any sign of him." Kaidan says gravely. Something tells me he's having trouble swallowing the fact that humanities brightest colony just got fucked up at the hands of a Council agent.

"Hmm…" the captain goes into a state deep thought, giving me a chance to glance over to Ashley. She gives me an unenthusiastic and worried look, as if to say how boned we are.

"Williams, Kennedy," Anderson gets back to us after a moment. "You two go ahead and set up in the guest quarters. Get yourselves cleaned up and rested. God knows you've earned it. I'll come and check up on the two of you before we arrive at the Citadel."

Ashley gives the man a salute while I simply nod. We make our exit, leaving Kaidan to sort things out. One of the Normandy crewmen is kind enough to lead us to the guest quarters, which is a short but somber walk down the hall and around a corner. It's a single room lined with four tightly spaced bunk cots. One wall has a closet. The other has latrine and showering facilities. And it's all neatly packed into a room not much bigger than the den of my apartment.

"Who showers first?"

I look at Ashley, not even having been thinking about that. Every couple of seconds the image of Sovereign blowing up that town springs back into my head. I push it away for now, trying to focus on the moment. We need to clean ourselves up, like Anderson said. For Cthulhu's sake, I smell like a garbage chute.

"You go. You killed more of 'em than I did." I suggest in spite of my thoughts. For some reason, holding a woman back from a shower doesn't seem like the brightest idea.

"Your armor's dirtier." she reminds me. I look down at myself, having almost forgotten how much geth fluid I had managed to cover myself in.

To elaborate, if you've ever played the first Mass Effect game, you might remember that the first time you meet a Geth Destroyer is on the way to the cargo train. Well, let's just say that Mr. Destroyer got a little too close to my shotgun after its shields had been popped. I knocked it down just as Kaidan hit it with an Overload tech… and it exploded, ME2-style.

"Just get in there. I want to try and get a message out to my sisters anyway. This shit's probably about to hit the news."

I surrender here, remembering Ashley's siblings and deciding that they're more important than my sense of chivalry.

The shower room isn't very comfortable. All of the surfaces are this metal-plastic stuff, which I'm gonna start calling 'plasteel'. Anyway, plasteel isn't very nice. It's reflective, cold, and nowhere near as homey as the white tile back home.

It takes me several minutes to get all of my armor off, which I pile up into a corner. Looking at it, I can't help but notice that it's actually got a few nicks and burns on it. When the hell did I get those? That Destroyer must have gotten closer than I thought.

Oh well. I can't really complain, considering how I lived while so many others didn't. Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if Ashley held it against me that I survived while her entire squad got cacked. She probably had more than a few friends out there. Now she just has me, and that's terrible.

Self-loathing aside, I eventually get everything off and step under a swath of warm water. Hallelujah! Normally I'd turn the water on hot enough to sear my problems off, but I just don't have the energy for that right now. I'm going for something more relaxing, which is exactly what I need after almost getting blasted, sniped, atomized, torn limb-from-limb, etc.

Once I'm as close to squeaky clean as I can get in someone else's shower, I get myself dry and come to a brand new conundrum. I don't have any clean clothes. GODDAM-

There's a rapping at the door.

"D-Don't come in!" I reply in half-panic. What the hell, Ashley?!

"You need some clothes? They brought up some spares."

Oh…

I head over to the door and slide it open, making sure to stand where I can't be seen. The hand that isn't holding a towel around my waist reaches out, allowing a clothes hangar to be placed into its grasp. The door is shut back, and I examine what's been offered to me. Psh… Someone thinks I like black.

I step out of the shower wearing the outfit, not sure what exactly I'm supposed to look like.

"I take it these are somebody's off-duty clothes that got donated." I say to the chief as I try to shake off the relative discomfort that comes with used garments. I look like a fucking punk wearing this.

"It was that or the refugee slacks," she gestures to another outfit lying on my bed. I instantly recognize it as the bland one-piece outfit that several less fortunate people across the games wear. "Figured you'd at least want to have a little confidence in how you look."

…I'm gonna assume that was some sort of compliment.

"Thanks, I guess."

"Yep. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a date with hot water." she says as she steps into the restroom and relocks the door.

With that done, I pick a bunk and lay myself- Oh! MAN, that smarts! Never would've thought lying down would hurt. I think that's the bullshit adrenaline rush wearing off. After years of working labor, you'd think I learn to expect the post-work soreness at some point. Really, though, it didn't seem like that much work… except for the running, the shooting, the dodging death at every corner, the falling on my hip while trying to be cool, the sliding on my knees so that I don't get atomized, and, above all else, the getting my mind _raped_ by that fucking space squid as it dropped out the goddamn sky.

My life – it sucks.

So Ashley's in the shower, leaving me to be idle and contemplate metaphysics in an unfamiliar room on a fictional spaceship in a fiction galaxy where fictional people do fictional things with fictional applied Phlebotinum. As exciting as that might sound, I'm stuck in a cramped dorm room. What in the honest-to-God fuck has happened to me?

After a moment of being clogged with confusion, my mind eventually settles on one very important thing to ponder: What am I going to do next? We're on our way to the Citadel, as the plot dictates. I could always get off there. I'm sure they'd take me right in with my lack of history or credible form of ID. What else can I do, though? Staying with the plot party doesn't seem very likely. I mean, come on. I'm just a stupid kid who survived Eden Prime because he was hiding behind three well-trained marines. Saving the world just ain't something I do.

Not to mention that they probably wouldn't have me even if I wanted to stay. For all I know, my interference with the beacon mission broke some kind of Alliance law. I might be on my way straight to prison! Oh man! I'm too young to get it in the bu-!

_pop_

…What the fuck?

My omni-tool, something I'd almost forgotten existed until just now, glows to life. I raise it up curiously, finding it to be holding a message on a forthcoming hologram projection.

_Chat room invite from "H"_, it says.

H? What the hell? Who's fucking trying to chat with me? I don't know anyone here!

That said, I press the indicated holo-button and get taken to what appears to be a pretty basic chat room layout. It tells me I've been signed in as '_RK_'.

_H: Hey!_

_RK: The fuck is this?_

Proper capitalization and end punctuation are nine-tenths of internet civility.

_H: A live chat between friends_

_H: But only if anyone asks._

_H: The link is secure._

_RK: What?_

_H: The Alliance can't snoop on this._

_H: Military encryption ain't shit when you got the right mole._

_RK: You're assuming that I give fucks about that._

_RK: I don't._

_H: You should._

_H: They catch you doing this while the Normandy is on a black op_

_H: They'll lock you in a Turkish prison_

_H: And feed the key to a varren_

_H: And then kick the varren into a volcano._

I can't help but chuckle at that. Despite all the fuckery surrounding this moment, I can appreciate this H's sense of humor.

_RK: Jesus Christ._

_H: Yeah._

_H: So keep your mouth shut._

_RK: Alright. Why are we conversing?_

_H: Not sure._

What.

_H: Just making sure this connection's solid._

_H: They haven't come to kill you yet have they?_

_RK: No._

An absurdly boring moment of time passes.

_H: What about now?_

_RK: Still here._

Fuck this. If I'm gonna get jerked around in a goddamn chat room, I might as well try to figure out what's going on in the meantime. Maybe this weirdo knows something about the note in the case.

_RK: Who are you?_

_H: Haku._

I literally facepalm. What the fuck am I dealing with? Why can't my life just sort itself out without giving me bizarre bullshit?!

_H: Did they get you?_

_RK: Who do you work for?_

_H: A lot of people._

_RK: Why are you contacting me?_

_H: Because someone told me to._

I bite my lip as the urge to shut this crap down and bash my head into the wall comes to forefront of my mind. Fortunately, I get interrupted. This guy's not letting up.

_H: Now I get to ask you questions._

_RK: No you don't._

_H: What is your name?_

Oh no. Why is this happening?

_RK: Raz Kennedy._

_H: What is your quest?_

Oh dear fucking God! NO!

_RK: Fuck you._

_H: Oh come on!_

_H: Lighten up! You'll feel better._

I growl with seething rage.

_RK: To seek the Collector Base._

_H: What is the airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow?_

_RK: What do you mean? An African or a European swallow?_

_H: You're good._

_RK: This is getting ridiculous._

_H: I know. You're going to the Citadel right?_

Huh?! How does he know that?!

_RK: Maybe._

_H: When you get a moment, preferably in the first few hours of being there_

_H: You should check out the VIP lounge in Chora's Den._

_H: Password's Hazelnut._

WHAT.

_H: Gotta go. Grandma needs a foot rub._

What the… Fucking… GOD DAMN IT!

The chat room closes automatically, leaving me with nothing better to do than close down the omni-tool and get off the bed. My back and legs protest, but I don't care. There's a spot on the wall that needs my forehead bashed against it hard enough to render me unconscious.

Before I can make a mess, the door to the room opens. Not the shower door, mind, but the door to the rest of the ship. I spin around, finding a bald guy in navy blue carrying trays.

"Room service!"

Hallelujah!

* * *

Time drags, but I finally get comfortable enough to let myself fall asleep after eating. Of course, I wake up in a sweat after dreaming about Eden Prime. It was the part where Sovereign decimated that town, as you probably suspected. That won't stop coming back to me, will it? There was nothing I could have done, but…

Before I can completely fall into some pathetic kind of despair, the door to the cabin opens up again. This time it's Anderson walking in, cueing Ashley to jump up from her bunk and salute. I just stand, struggling to ignore the nerves biting at me as the captain stands before us. This is it – time to face the music.

"At ease," the good captain puts a hand up so that Ashley can relax. "Sorry for making you two wait so long. I had a mountain of paperwork to clear up first."

"It's no problem, sir." I respond with common courtesy.

"Alright, let's get to business then," Anderson looks to Ashley again. "First thing's first. Williams, you've been reassigned to the Normandy. Welcome aboard, Chief."

"An honor, sir." Ashley salutes again. How soldiery of her…

"Good. Now, you're dismissed. I need to discuss some things with Mr. Kennedy. Feel free to get familiar with the ship and get to know the crew."

Oh fudge.

"Aye-aye." Ashley nods with a nervous glance my way. Shit! This is probably the part where I get told that I'm going to be subjected to military secrecy and thrown in prison for the rest of my life! Flying monkeys on a stick! Can my day get any worse?!

Once Ashley's out of the room and the door slides back shut, Anderson gives me a stern but still friendly look. He's a truck of a man, I tell you. Sharp-eyed, dark-skinned, and built to look tough even in his dress blues. Add the Keith David voice –which he really does have – and you've got a recipe for a man I can't help but unconsciously respect.

"I should start by thanking you," he begins, gesturing for me to sit down on the bed. I do as much, and he takes the one across from me. I don't say anything, though. At the end of the day, something tells me that whatever I say isn't going to affect what happens to me. "Lieutenant Alenko claims that you were good help down there. Said that you're more than he expected out of a freelancer, especially a young one."

Uh… I guess that's a compliment.

"I went ahead and pulled up your information," he keeps goi- Wait, WHAT?! "Twenty-one, born and raised on Elysium, son of Lukas and Natalia. Does that sound right to you?"

Yeah, except replace Elysium with Texas. I can hardly imagine Mom travelling to space. She could barely fly in a plane without getting sick.

Wait, THAT'S CRAZY! Why the hell am I from space now?!

"Yeah." I go along with it so as not to raise more ridiculous questions. That doesn't stop him from looking at me expectantly for a few unpleasant seconds. I think he's waiting for me to say something. Unfortunately, I'm far too frightened to make small talk at the moment.

"Not much for conversation, are you?" he finally speaks again. I can't help but feel like Gordon Freeman as he cracks a smirk. It only lasts an instant, though, seriousness taking over as he continues. "Let's get down to brass tacks, then. I won't bullshit you, son. You've just dropped into the know of some serious shit. If Saren was behind the attack on Eden Prime, then there's going to be a lot of insanity between here and the end."

I can feel my face fall. I know what's about to happen.

"Here me out. I'm not talking conscription," Anderson catches onto me. He brings up his omni-tool, keying in a few commands. It projects a hologram of what appears to be a form. "But I want you to consider a contract with the Alliance. I've got plans for this operation, and, if things go the way I foresee them, I'm gonna need every willing trigger finger I can find."

I can't help but feel astonished by the captain's straightforwardness as he puts the holo away. He wants me to keep fighting with them? _He's planning what happens next?! _Does he know that he's gonna get taken off the mission? Holy crap! What the hell is going on?! I thought they were gonna throw me in jail!

"Of course, it's all up to you. Hell, this won't matter at all if we can't get through to the Council," he keeps going. "That's why we're headed to the Citadel. Maybe they'll listen to us about Saren."

Yeah, when pigs shoot laser beams from their ears.

"Well, I guess that's all I wanted to mention." Anderson finally rises, at which I stand as well. "One more thing, though. Seeing as you're not Alliance staff…"

"Don't go poking around the sensitive systems." I finish that sentence for him. Ahh… Feels nice to say something after being scared and confused for a few minutes.

"…Right." he nods before turning around and headed for the door.

Once he's gone, I return to the bed and shut my eyes. Dammit! That was not the conversation I was expecting to have with him. Not to suggest that I actually knew what to expect, but I don't think getting invited to join the party full-time was high on my list of possibilities. Again, I was thinking something more along the lines of getting locked up. This? This is fucking nuts. I still don't know how I survived the geth attack! How am I supposed to help super soldiers fight an interstellar war?

Then there's the Citadel and that H fellow. What in God's name was up with him? I checked the chat room we were in earlier, and it has ceased to exist. I'm not even sure if that actually happened or if the shower water was laced with peyote. He wanted me to go to the VIP lounge in Chora's Den once I got to the station. How does even know how to talk to me? Did he write that letter I got with the armor and weapons – the one saying that I had to retrieve something from the Collector Base?

Gaaaah! SO MANY STUPID QUESTIONS! Do I get answers? No! Why is this fucking happening to me?!

Growling and trying not to think about it, I pull up my omni-tool. It's got a new message, the tone for which I must not have noticed. It's from Anderson, so I open it. From the display springs the same image of a form that I saw on his. Sure enough, it looks to be a contract that hasn't been filled out

Hmm… Fighting the interstellar war… and getting to the Collector Base… Then what?

I close my eyes again, deciding that a few more hours of sleep may help me forget how fucking strange this all is.

* * *

**So yeah... That was a thing.**

**Seriously, though. Sorry if this chapter was a little lacking in most departments. It's a filler chapter that mainly holds plot narrative and the biding of time. It's not exactly _In Vain Doth Valour Bleed_, but few things are. Next chapter ought to jump us straight to the Citadel, which will bring us to the start of a new story arc. Yay for that, maybe?**

**My lack of confidence aside, thanks for reading everyone! Review if you want to! It really helps the writing process when I get feedback!**


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